American Attitudes on AI Adoption
Navigating Benefits, Fears, and Emerging Dynamics
By Dr. Christina Catenacci
Nov 1, 2024
Key Points
Enterprises are keen to use AI, but many of their employees have not yet used AI in their workplaces due to fear of AI
General AI literacy training, specific job-related AI training, and clear AI policies and procedures can go a long way to help increase employees’ comfort level with AI being present in the workplace
Increase the number of Maximalists in the workplace by clearly and honestly communicating with employees in the workplace regarding the technologies used in the workplace
In August, 2023, researchers from Slack's Workforce Lab interviewed 5,000 knowledge workers in Australia, India, Ireland, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the United States, and reported in September, 2024 that it will be necessary to use a tailored approach and help set every employee up for success in the AI-powered workplace.
The study found that enterprises are keen to use AI, but many of their employees have not yet used AI in their workplaces. Researchers commented that if this trend continues, both employees and their employers run the risk of missing out on benefits such as improved efficiencies, elevated employee experiences, as well as increased performance and productivity.
It is important to understand why the workers are not using AI as much as employers would like them to. It has been observed that some workers are afraid of AI. It is not about being afraid of how the technology works—it is about being afraid that important parts of their jobs will be automated, and they may appear to their employer as replaceable.
Moreover, companies face a justifiable risk that resistant workers will hold back productivity and creativity, and this is likely to affect the organization’s overall success. The researchers have revealed that there are two main types of AI workplace personas that employers typically encounter:
Maximalists: These workers make up about 30 percent of the professional workforce. They are using AI multiple times per week to improve their work and are very open about it. In fact, about half of Maximalists state that the use of AI is actively encouraged at their company, with or without guidelines. It is anticipated that Maximalists could be recruited to become AI evangelists for the rest of the organization
Undergrounds: These workers make up about 20 percent of the professional workforce. Undergrounds say they use AI, but are hesitant to share that with their colleagues, either because it is discouraged at work or because they feel that it could make them seem disposable
It appears that Undergrounds have something in common with knowledge hoarders in that they learn, but they do not want to share what they know with anyone—so that they can gain a productivity advantage.
There is another possibility: perhaps some workers are not admitting that they are Undergrounds, and the percentage of Undergrounds is actually higher than what has been reported. Or maybe some employees are bringing their own AI to work (under the radar).
But there are more kinds of employees that can be found in the workplace:
Rebels: These workers make up about 19 percent of the professional workforce. They do not trust AI, avoid using it, and consider it unfair that their co-workers use it at work
Superfans and Observers: These workers make up 16 percent each, totaling 32 percent. They have yet to integrate AI into their work, but they are watching developments with interest and caution
Those who refuse to use AI emphasize the challenges such as AI tends to hallucinate at times. What this means is that employees are in need of some AI literacy training, and employers can achieve this goal by building the training into the flow of work and strategic planning. Employers are more likely to be successful when they create a foundational training program that highlights the benefits and the risks (and ways to address those risks). Employees can become more comfortable with AI if they are trained in generating prompts and sharing best use cases.
With AI training, some of the employees who are hesitant to use AI can make the leap and become Maximalists. There is nothing preventing employees from moving to anther category, and training can go a long way in increasing the number of Maximalists in the organization. Another thing that can help employees gain confidence is encouraging them to experiment with the AI at work.
In addition to proper training, employers are recommended to provide appropriate guardrails and guidelines to employees. This can be in the form of AI policies and procedures. Effective policies and procedures set out the purpose of the policy, expectations of the company, roles and responsibilities of all actors in the workplace, and legal, policy, and ethics authority relied upon.
Diving a level deeper, a recent survey by the American Psychological Association studied AI, monitoring technology, and psychological well-being with 2,515 employed American adults. Essentially, some workers were concerned about what the future may hold—especially when it came to AI. They worried that AI could replace their jobs and employers could use monitoring technology that would invade their privacy.
More precisely, about 38 percent reported worrying that AI might make some or all of their job duties obsolete in the future. Noteworthy was the fact that these AI worries were correlated with mental health concerns. In fact, about 51 percent of employees who were worried about AI replacing their jobs also reported that their work had a negative impact on their mental health, compared with 29 percent of those who did not report being worried about AI.
Also, 66 percent of those who said they were worried about AI reported believing that their employer thought their workplace was a lot mentally healthier than it actually was, compared with 48 percent of those who did not report being worried about AI. Moreover, 33 percent of those who reported being worried about AI also reported that their general mental health was poor or fair (as opposed to good or excellent), compared with 25 percent of those who did not report being worried about AI.
Alarmingly, there were correlations between worries about AI and stress and workplace burnout. In fact, about 64 percent of those who reported being worried about AI also reported typically feeling tense or stressed during the workday, compared with 38 percent of those who did not report being worried about AI. Feelings of burnout included irritability or anger toward coworkers or customers, a desire to keep to themselves, not feeling motivated to do their very best, feelings of lower productivity, feelings of emotional exhaustion, and feelings of being ineffective.
Further, workers who reported being worried about AI often reported feeling that they were not valued at work. More specifically, 37 percent of those who were worried about AI believed that they did not matter to their coworkers, compared with 17 percent of those who did not report being worried about AI. Additionally, 41 percent of those who were worried about AI believed they did not matter to their employer, compared to 23 percent of those who did not report being worried about AI.
But what is striking is that 75 percent of those who worried about AI worried that new forms of technology would take over some or all work duties in the next 10 years, compared to 23 percent of those who did not report being worried about AI.
This AI anxiety may affect whether an employee wants to seek a mew job with a different employer. In particular, 46 percent of those who were worried about AI intended to look for a new job in the next year, compared with only 25 percent of those who did not report being worried about AI.
And there is no question that mental health is affected by monitoring technology—45 percent of those who were monitored stated that work had a negative effect on their mental health, compared to 29 percent of those who were not monitored. Additionally, 62 percent of those who were monitored stated that their employer thought that the workplace environment was a lot mentally healthier than it actually was, compared to 48 percent of those who were not monitored.
In fact, there were correlations between monitoring and workplace stress. That is, 56 percent of those who were monitored also reported feeling tense or stressed during their workday, compared with 40 percent of those who were not monitored. Worse, those who were monitored also more frequently expressed feelings often associated with burnout, such as irritability or anger toward coworkers or customers, a desire to keep to themselves at work, not feeling motivated to do their very best, feelings of emotional exhaustion, and feelings of being ineffective at work.
Likewise, workers who were monitored at work more often reported feeling that they were not valued at work. For example, 26 percent of those who were monitored did not believe that they were valued at work, compared with 17 percent who were not monitored. Also, 36 percent of those who were monitored believed that they did not matter to their employer, compared with 22 percent of those who were not monitored. Similarly, 32 percent of those who were monitored believed that they did not matter to their coworkers, compared with 17 percent of those who were not monitored.
Interestingly, 34 percent of workers believed that their employers were spying on them, and 35 percent were uncomfortable with the way their employer used technology to track them at work. The thought of being monitored made them feel like their employers did not trust them (51 percent), it was an invasion of privacy (50 percent), they felt stressed (48 percent), and they felt anxious (46 percent).
In light of the above, what can employers do? When planning on using AI in the workplace (especially if there are plans to have monitoring features), employers are recommended to do the following:
be transparent and communicate honestly with the workforce about the technologies that are to be used in the workplace—including any monitoring technologies
reduce psychological distress associated with fear of the unknown by providing further details concerning the technologies to be used and allowing employees to provide input into the planned changes
increase the level of comfort with AI by providing general AI literacy training and specific AI training regarding working with AI to perform job tasks
create more Maximalists in the organization using a foundational training program that highlights the benefits and the risks (and ways to address those risks) of AI
provide clear guidelines and guardrails to all actors in the workplace with clear policies and procedures so that everyone is on the same page regarding the rules, roles and responsibilities, as well as the expectations of the employer